Tech Tuesday – Five Minute Wheel True

Wire-spoke wheels are simple, strong and lightweight, but each component depends upon its neighbors for protection. As long as the spokes are evenly tensioned and the rim is round, the force of an impact is distributed around the circumference of the wheel. As stress and damage cause individual spokes to loosen, the job is shouldered by fewer spokes in tension. If you let all the spokes go slack, then the job of supporting the rider and his or her botched landings goes to the few spokes that happen to oppose the vector of force – which usually results in broken spokes and game over.

Without belaboring the point, a quick check of your spokes and the condition of your wheels is a good idea. If you do find a few loose spokes and a wobbly rim, use the following five-minute wheel tuneup to get all the bits spinning in a perfect circle again. Tuning a wheel is as easy as restoring the spoke tension and tightening right-side spokes to move the rim to the right, or the left-side spokes to move the rim to the left. The key is to make everything happen in order so that fixing the wobble doesn't result in uneven spoke tension. You may be surprised at how simple the task can be..

Tip: Some wheels, like DT Swiss Tricon, have powerful locking fluid applied to the threads that requires advanced truing techniques and should be left to a proper mechanic. Also, if you get lost in the process of tensioning or truing a wheel, admit defeat and stop right there. Your local bike shop is well equipped to true wheels and it is a lot easier for a mechanic to fix a slightly wobbly one than a wheel that a customer has ‘trued’ to destruction.

Warning: Never use pliers to tighten a spoke nipple unless your wheel is only one ride away from destruction anyway and you have already stripped the working edges of the nipples.

What you'll Need:- A proper spoke wench. For square nipples, use the type that grab at least three corners (Park Tool and DT Swiss make the best).- Some wheels use tiny hex nuts and others have special splined nipples.- If your wheels have bladed spokes, you may need a second, slotted wrench to keep the spoke from twisting. Mavic (top) and Shimano (lower left) are equipped with slotted wrenches.- Not shown, but handy, is a felt tip pen to mark the apex of each wobble.

Pinkbike's Five-Minute Wheel True

Step one: Assess the wheel. Put the bike in a stand or simply turn it upside down and give the wheel a spin. Runout (sideways wobble) over one millimeter (1/16-inch) is worth fussing with. At or below that threshold is a perfectly acceptable wheel for disc-brake bikes. Finally, watch the rim as the wheel spins for any significant flat spots. The rim must be round to remain strong. A little flat spot can be nursed for a long time, but a big one usually means game-over and a rim replacement.

Step two: work around the wheel and squeeze each spoke. You are searching for either a loose pair or a loner that is significantly looser than the rest. It may help to squeeze the spokes of a good wheel to establish a base line.Tip: Plink each spoke with a fingernail and listen to the tone. All the spokes on one side of the hub should ring about the same. A significantly lower note signals a low-tensioned spoke.

Step three: Begin at the valve stem and work around the wheel, tensioning the slack spokes. Tighten the nipples one-half turn and then reverse about a quarter of a revolution. This unwinds the spoke and ensures that you are turning the threads each time. Bring up the slack spokes about 90 percent of the properly tensioned spokes and don't worry about rim runout yet. If you have bladed spokes, grasp the bladed part close to the nipple with the slotted wrench and only tension the spokes one fourth revolution at a time.

Step four: With the bike in a stand, or up-side down, brace your hand against the frame or fork and place the spoke wrench just close enough to the side of the spinning rim to hear it grind against the largest wobble in the wheel. Rock the wheel back and forth until you find the spoke nearest to the apex of the wobble. Hold that spoke or mark the side of the rim with a felt tip pen.

Step five: Always work out rim runout in groups of three spokes. The middle spoke at the apex of the wobble is flanked by two spokes that originate from the opposite side of the hub. First loosen the spokes (or spoke) from the hub flange that is closest to the apex of the wobble about a half turn. Next, tighten the spokes (or spoke) that originate from the opposite side of the apex the same amount. Recheck the runout and repeat until it shrinks to about a millimeter and then move on to the next wobble. Work around the wheel in sequence until you have reduced each trouble spot to about a millimeter on both sides of the rim.

Step six. Recheck spoke tension with a feel or a plink test. If the spokes are closely matched, then you are done. If there are some low-tensioned spokes left, then begin at the valve stem and tension every spoke one-fourth turn. This will bring up the tension in the entire wheel and help push the rim outwards to stretch the errant ones.

Step seven: Give the spokes a final plink test and spin the wheel to assess that the runout is within a millimeter or so. If its within 85 to 90-percent of new, you are gold.

3. On stubborn wheels, a slight overtension, then releasing tension for final truing sometimes works. It helps prevent spoke windup.

4. Use the right spoke nipple wrench!!!! There is no such thing as "close enough" unless you want to have to buy all new nipples and start over.

5. On really stubborn wheels with seized spokes, use oil on both ends of the spoke nipple and the nipple rim interface, pluck the spokes like instrument strings, let it sit for 1/2 hour, then try to loosen then adjust the spokes. DO NOT USE WD-40 or other penetrating sprays. They will remove the little bit of lubrication held in the nipple interface.

6. For wheel assembly, I have used light weight fork oil wherever the spoke, hub, nipple, and rim touch.

7. The last step is to put the wheel on the floor and pressure/release the wheel from all different angles around the rim to release any residual spoke windup. Recheck trueness and adjust again if necessary.

a very simple tip i use to mark the rim where the wheel is rubbing is use chalk instead of the marker pen used here because it stays on sold when the wheel is spinning and will rub right off when your done

I almost always use a drop of Triflow on the nips before I start truing a wheel, especially if it's a particularly dirty or old wheel. Just make sure you wipe off any excess oil before you ride, or you may end up getting it on your brake rotor.

TRIFLOW! the best lube for stubborn nips. DETENSION~ all those clinks and pings you hear when you inflate the tire or sit on the bike the first time are the spokes unwinding and can effect your spoke tension, a light blow with a rubber mallet where the spokes cross and/or standing the wheel on the ground and leaning into it will help detension the spokes ( try not to side-load the wheel you could damage the rim or bearings). Great article- Good advise... even if I did poop on it.

A preferred way to detension the wheel (that doesn't involve a mallet) is to hold the wheel against your stomach perpendicular and then press down on the rim with your elbows while holding your hands on the rim at the 2 o'clock and 11 o'clock positions. You should get some nice pings from this method.

15 years of wheel building experience... I usually employ 2 or three different methods of detension including what you speak of but the mallet works well. I also strike the spoke at the hub flange to seat the spoke head and relieve the tension where it wants to bend towards the center of the rim. This actually strengthens the spoke. My methods are race proven and I have very few re-trues and spoke failures are virtually non existent.

A good squeeze on pairs of spokes works well. The handle of a screwdriver pushed firmly into where the spoke crosses is good for a detention too.A little copperslip (copper grease) on spoke threads is good for ally nipples as it has quite low "sticktion" and doesn't degrade. Helps prevent any long term bi metallic corrosion

If you are new to this, practice on your little brother's ride or neighbor's beater bike before trying it on your fancy smancy wheelset. Here's the line: "Hey, this wheel is a bit out of true, but I can help you out with it!"

I used a mavic d321 on a hope big un hub (front wheel) that I used from 1998 all the way up till oct 2011, just by checking the spokes once a week made it last that long and its still going, I use a coat hanger wire tied to the forks/frame and about 5mm out from the rim to find the small wobbles, but most of the time I just use feel.

Really good write up. Wheel building and truing are well worth learning. My wheels are cheap and last a long time because of a little investment of time to learn this stuff. Stan's ZTR Flows with Hope Pro 2 hubs -- sturdy and worthy.

Once you have trued a wheel or two its not that tricky. The real art was back when rim brakes where more common you had to be spot on not just left or right and up and down.anyone who has built wheels will know getting it not to wobble is the easy bit, its getting the tension just right for vertical alignment that is tricky. Thats when you really appreciate a good rim to start with. (and the right size spokes (for any builders out there who have accidentally mixed up their spoke sizes in a drawer))

Similiar to what Richard was saying about 'working in threes', if you are out on the trail and break a spoke, especially if you are still running rim brakes, you need to loosen the two spokes either side of the broken spoke. This will bring the rim back to true. Now you can make it home but ride gently because 10% of your rim has little tension on it.

If you can't remove the broken spoke, bend it and hook it/zip tie/tape it to another spoke so it doesn't do any more damage as it flails around.

does it make a difference if you true your wheel with the tire and tube on? Does the added pressure help, hinder or make no difference at? Ive never tried to true my own rims, and if its not necessary to take the time to get rid of the tire and tube and then put it back on after, it would make the time between rides slightly less

It is easier to do it with the tire and tube off, and in a truing stand. If you look straight down the rim to the marker, the sliver of light you see is more accurate than this method. This method works if you notice the problem away from the garage, or if you don't have a stand.

LET THE AIR OUT, on machine built, single wall rims (most stock wheels) a sharp nipple can cut through the rim strip and puncture your tube or just damage it enough to get you out on the trail before it lets go.

Wheel truing is finnicky business. Even though I know how to do it, and do it often on my shitty hardtail, I'd still rather pay someone to be responsible for anything that goes wrong on the money pit DH sled.

Truing wheels Italian is a stupid thing to advise someone who doesnt know how to build wheels... Just use the spoke tool as said to find al issues, seriously though think logically how a spoke works and you will be fine, there re much better guides than this though, also buddy spokey's are also awesome, no idea how pink bike forgot to mention them... and dont use sharpie on your rim, it wont come off, just use the spoke tool and work it out, it isnt that hard, or use chalk to find issues instead of the spoke tool, it comes off easier, and can be done a few times as the wobbles shift about

I much prefer to use the stand/my finger/that sliver of light as mentioned in another comment. And i dont mark the apex, i go from where it begins to go out of true, then hold that spoke, then spin it towards me until it goes back to the centre. Then you can do 1/4 and 1/2 turns.

I would and have done this on J hook type spokes. But my new bike has direct mount hubs and I have no idea how to tension them. Then again they have taken a dogs abuse and have absolutely no sign of a buckle.
All is well.

I was going to say v brake but I am sure to get neg props for clearly believing the foolish statement I would have just made.In all seriousness I think British mild sarcasm might get culturally lost in translation. (I really don't mean that in a bad way either )

I don't true wheels myself, but if you're truing a wheel it pays to put a tyre on and inflate it every now and then. The mechanic at my LBS said that if you true the wheel completely and then put the tyre on it can release some tension in the spokes and put the wheel out of true again.

Yes it can. Your local 'wal-mart' bikes have such cheaply built wheels, when you pump them up to around 40psi, you hear some pings and if running rim brakes on these types of bikes, set the brakes up after!

I use the park one, it has 3 slots which fit most things and theyre normally around £10. It can be tough on your hands sometimes as it has good square edges adn is a bit small but more an observation not a complaint as its needs to be small really.

Aaron LaRocque (larock.pinkbike.com) was visiting while I was setting up the photos and offered to do a video, but he and Ian Hylands were thrashed from trying to shoot the Athertons in bad weather for three days, so I opted to do it in stills so LaRocque could get at least one night's rest.RC

There is a a faster way to tune your wheels than that. I use a pencil to mark my tires,. set the pencil 1/16 away from your tire and brace your hand spin the wheel and what ever way the rim goes the pencil will show so tension the rim on the other side to make it true, spin and repeat till you wheel is straight easy as pie!

Not the greatest idea to mark your tires, tires are not 100% straight to the rim. Many tires have a little bit of a wobble in them here and there, even when the rim is straight. It's not a big amount, but definitely enough to notice. Maybe try the same trick but mark the rim with a pencil instead...

that works, but it's easy to hold a pencil against the stay and spin the wheel, as you move the pencil in it will mark the rim wherever it's a little out of line. You can do that on both sides and get a good idea of what's going on and what needs to be done...